A few days ago I complained that the news was nonsense. From Anna Nicole to Don Imus to the Duke lacrosse players, I wanted the news to be of substance.
I do not regret my wish, but I, like rationale people everywhere, am horrified by the news today. Virgina Tech is now a phrase for the ages, like Columbine and 9/11. It is burned in our lexicon. The coming days will be filled with analysis and second guessing, which will inevitably miss the only issue that matters. Innocent human beings died way too young.
Children predeceased their parents. This should not happen. It is every parent’s nightmare. I am an adult, and my parents still worry about it. Fathers and mothers lost sons and daughters. College kids lost their best friends. A couple of those teens probably declared their love for each other the night before, and promised to love each other forever. Not only did we lose people…we lost innocent people…tragically. So as we mourn and search for answers, I implore people everywhere to take deep breaths, and not turn this into a political sideshow.
Liberals are itching to exploit this tragedy to promote tougher gun control laws faster than you can say Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Shumer. Maybe they actually believe what they say about this issue. It doesn’t matter. They would be wrong on the issue, and wrong morally for bringing it up. This is not about guns. It is about a human being who did an awful thing.
Conservatives should also tread lightly. If the murderer of these students in Virginia turns out to be an illegal alien, this should not be used to fuel the already high illegal immigration fire. I do not support illegal immigration, but I fear that an angry mob might target every Asian in America. Anyone who thinks this would not happen has forgotten the 1992 LA Riots, when being a Korean grocery store owner was tantamount to wearing a bullseye (the store owners had guns, another reason gun control advocates are wrong).
Liberals will try to somehow connect this to President Bush. He supports the second amendment, and therefore will be blamed for the “cowboy culture” that infects America (while ignoring that Bush is a rancher, not a cowboy).
If the murderer was on drugs, conservatives might try to blame the permissive culture of the 1960s for this heinous crime, as if no one died before 1959. Yes, the 1960s brought us toxic individuals engaging in bad behavior, but they did not make this individual killer decide to declare Virginia Tech his personal armageddon.
Liberals will try to get to the root cause of why this happened. It does not matter. People are dead, and most Americans are tired of social scientists. They want justice.
Conservatives will ask for vengeance. They will want anyone else involved to be immediately killed. While I support the death penalty, we must be measured. If we find innocent relatives of the killers, we have to ask questions first and then shoot, not the other way around. If it turns out that the killer listened to heavy metal or gangsta rap, attempts will be made to blame Snoop Dogg or Metallica for this tragedy. I don’t care if the kid was calling his victims bizzatches and hos while blaring Snoop’s music on his headphones…this was an individual (or individuals) who did an evil thing.
Liberals will claim that since this killer is not an Arab or a Muslim, this proves that terrorism comes in all forms, and that ethnic profiling is not the answer. This is nonsense. If this killer is Asian, as initially being reported, most Americans are shocked specifically because an Asian mass murderer is an aberration. Asians don’t do that, unless they are named Pol Pot.
Conservatives will claim that this proves we need to be tougher on crime, and that we are at war. Unless proven otherwise, while this mass murder spree is terrorism, it is not connected to any terrorist organization or cell. It is, unless shown to the contrary, an isolated heinous act unconnected to any political or ideological statement.
It is quite possible that nothing could have prevented this. Some say that maybe before he killed people, this killer could have been given love. How do we know that this killer did not grow up in a loving home? Maybe the killer had mental problems. This should not turn into a conversation about health care and mental illness. If the killer was poor, this should not be about class warfare. Supply side tax cuts did not cause this. The person may or may not have been evil. Barring surprising information to the contrary, he was. The act was definitely evil. That’s it. Period.
Presidential candidates should issue a statement of sorrow and then shut up. Any attempt to politicize this should be met with voter backlash.
Innocent human beings died long before their time, leaving a trail of broken hearts. Virginia will never be the same again.
To quote rock group Metallica, with regards to this issue, “Nothing Else Matters.” To quote John Cougar Mellencamp, “Time to settle with my neighbor. Time to question my own behavior.” If any positive can come out of this horror, it will be that somewhere…someone who is angry with someone else…about to pick up a knife or a bottle…will instead pick up a telephone…and call their neighbor and say “let’s talk.”
People should call up people we love and tell them. If you have told them 50 million times…tell them again. As Virginia Tech tragically reminds us again, the only guarantees in life are taxes (April 15th does not seem like the end of the world all of a sudden), and sadly enough, death…occasionally an unfair, unjustified and untimely death.
Virginia is for lovers. I am sending my love and prayers to Virginia, as are many tonight. Then I am going to stay quiet and try to make sense of it all. We should all do that.
eric